Strategic Market Leadership

In this ongoing series to explore some of the distinctives that may be helpful in establishing a leadership setting to which the emerging millennial generation will respond, I have looked at two of the attributes considered attractive to millennials: Mission-purpose and work-life balance.

Last week I began a short series discussing some of the distinctives that may be helpful in establishing a leadership setting to which the emerging millennial generation will respond. As I said then, I am neither a sociologist nor a psychologist – and certainly not an expert. My perception is simply that of a practitioner - and it is in such a context that I am proposing some thoughts for consideration. And on that note, we continue…

Continuing the discussion of Courage as it relates to leadership, we cannot ignore the reality that not all experiences in leadership are smooth – or even positive. Obstacles arise, choices are made, and not every decision works out well.

As it turns out, such are the circumstances that mark the difference between average and extraordinary leadership. A classic article from Harvard Business Review entitled, “Crucibles of Leadership,” puts it this way:

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of confronting issues as they arise (click here to review). The importance of this leadership principle was reinforced yesterday during a conversation with a friend when he described a situation where a leader failed to confront (“to face”) an issue in a timely manner.

A friend of mine made an interesting observation a few years ago. He said,

“When you are the leader of an organization, you are treated like the quarterback of an American NFL football team; you get more of the credit - and more of the blame - than you deserve of either one.”

Last week I discussed that I have observed the value – and the danger – of compassion as a hallmark of those who lead. I began by defining compassion and indicated we would explore the virtues and the risks of compassion-centered management as a primary stimulus in leadership decision-making (click to read).

This week, I part two, we look at the value of compassion in leadership.